The present invention relates generally to fuse holders for replaceable electrical circuit elements such as fuses and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to a novel one piece planar fuse holder that may be directly retained by the connecting power distribution circuitry which eliminates the need for separable discrete fuse holders in the circuitry. This invention is particularly well suited for use in motor vehicle applications.
There are several prior art fuse holders that incorporate stamping and forming methods to mass produce contact terminals. This prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,416 to Cabraud and U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,299 to Loewen et al. However, both of these patents apply only to the metal terminal elements of fuse holders or other electrical connectors.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,262 to David R. Marach does address the need for a fuse holder for replaceable circuit elements having blade-type terminals. Such fuses are well known in the industry and comprise a pair of spaced blades partially enclosed in an insulative housing. The blades are interconnected within the housing by a conductive interconnect which self-destructs at a preselected amperage. The blades extend from the housing for frictional connection to a suitable, typically plastic housing. Examples of such fuses include "ATC" fuses manufactured by Cooper Industries, Inc. of Houston Tex. and "ATO" fuses manufactured by Littelfuse. Blade-type fuses have found widespread use in electrical systems found in automobiles, motorboats and many other products.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,262 does show improvements and economies over prior art. However, U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,262 still suffers from certain drawbacks such as requiring a multiplicity of parts as well as requiring separate fuse holder blocks for separate circuits. In addition, the design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,262 requires considerable guidance for fuse insertion because of the configuration of the contact tabs. The fuse holder of U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,262 also requires expensive injection molding components. Other patents of interest in this area, which pose similar or other problems, include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,116,269, 3,140,364; 3,457,640; 3,618,207; 4,197,636; 4,337,574; 4,801,278; 4,938,715 and 5,113,168.